


Smarter Than He Seems

by crumplehornedsnorkack



Series: Fic a day in May [4]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-06
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-23 18:24:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1575143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumplehornedsnorkack/pseuds/crumplehornedsnorkack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey helps Carl with his homework.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smarter Than He Seems

“School is bullshit.” Carl was sitting at the kitchen table, math homework laid out in front of him and a scowl on his face. 

“Yeah, well, tough shit. If you don’t do your homework, the school will fail you for the year, and you’ll have to go in the summer.” Fiona said as she made dinner. 

“Ugh, how I’m I supposed to know this stuff? None of it makes any sense. All these word problems and shit. It’s like a whole ‘nother language” 

“Try. If you can’t figure it out, we’ll call Lip when he gets out of class and have him help you. Or I can do it. I got my GED, how hard can middle school math be?” If she was being honest, Fiona didn’t know if she could help Carl. Fiona wasn’t stupid, but she had never been good at math. 

Fiona heard the front door open, and someone stomp in. She ignored it, assuming it was one of the kids.

“Fine. If it’s so easy, tell me what the answer to this is: If Diego wants to buy 23 watermelons, and each watermelon cost 2.00(plus 6% sales tax), how much do all of Diego’s watermelons cost?”

Fiona put down her spoon, and turned to Carl, “Jesus, what does Diego need with 23 watermelons? I don’t know kid, go get a calculator.”

“$48.76” Mickey said as he walked into the Gallagher’s kitchen. He headed straight for the fridge and pulled out the juice, downing it straight from the bottle.

“What?” Fiona asked looking perplexed.

“That’s the answer to your stupid question. $48.76, that’s how much 23 fucking watermelons cost. Who the fuck spends $50 on fruit?” Mickey finished off the juice and threw the bottle away. 

“How do you know?” Fiona looked dubious, but Carl was jotting down the answer.

“I did the fucking math. It’s not like it’s hard.”

Both Fiona and Carl starred at Mickey. “I didn’t know you could do math.” The words came out a lot more insulting that Fiona had meant them.

“I’ve been dealing since I was eight, of course I can do math. Ounces and grams and dollars and shit, you don’t know your stuff you get scammed. You get scammed, you get beaten. It’s pretty simple.” Mickey looked annoyed, and tried to head up the stairs and escape to Ian’s room. He’d had a long day at The Alibi, and he didn’t want to deal with Gallagher bullshit. 

“Wait, Mickey. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to imply that you were stupid. I was just surprised.” And Fiona did look sorry, or at least slightly remorseful. 

“Fine, it’s whatever. Can I go upstairs now?” Mickey said, inching slowly toward the stairs.

“Actually, would you mind helping Carl with his homework? I’ll give you ten bucks. He really needs to pass this year.” 

“You can keep your fucking money. I ain’t no hired help. No one should have to spend more time in that hellhole of a school than they need to. Move over Carl.” Mickey planted himself next to Carl at the table and pulled the homework over to himself. He snatched the pencil from Carl’s hand and started writing. 

Fiona watched with no small amount of shock as Mickey Milkovich proceeded to explain the work in a way that not only made sense, but also was interesting enough that even Fiona found herself paying attention. 

 

Mickey was explaining one particularly difficult problem by telling a disturbing story about one of the Johns at The Alibi when Ian walked in. He stopped short when he saw Mickey next to Carl, with Carl looking at Mickey like he hung the moon, and math homework spread out between them. 

Ian ran one hand over Mickey’s head as he made his way over to Fiona and settled against the counter next to her. Mickey looked up and smirked at Ian before returning to the work in front of him.

“What’s going on?” Ian asked.

“Mickey is apparently way smarter than any of us gave him credit for.” Fiona said with a smile.

“Who knew?”

Ian grinned, looking extremely pleased, “I knew. I’ve been saying that for years.”

Ian leaned against the counter with Fiona, watching Mickey and Carl. They both seemed happy, joking and laughing in a way Ian had never done while struggling with schoolwork. 

After a few minutes, Mickey got tired of Ian watching him from all the way across the room, “Ay, Gallagher, get your ass over here.” Mickey looked up from the paper and pushed the seat next to him out with his foot. 

Ian came over to the table and settled in next to Mickey. He reached over and grabbed Mickey’s hand under the table, squeezing lightly. Mickey squeezed back, and resumed talking to Carl, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.


End file.
